NEW DELHI (PTI): Disapproving the present system of issuing nomination papers separately from the form for declaring previous convictions, the Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to issue them together to candidates in all future elections.

At present, the returning officer on receiving the nomination papers from a candidate gives him the proforma of an affidavit to furnish information to ascertain whether he has been convicted in any of the offences mentioned in Section 8 of the Representation of Peoples Act.

The affidavit and the nomination papers are taken together for scrutiny on the scheduled date to find out if the candidate was entitled to contest elections or not.

uggesting a change in the present practice, a three-judge bench of Justice R.C. Lahoti, Justice Brijesh Kumar and Justice H.K. Sema said: “It would be better that for the future the directive may find it feasible to require the returning officer to handover the proforma of affidavit while issuing the nomination paper itself.”

Rejecting an election petition challenging the result of the byelection from Bhojpur Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, the apex court said the returning officer’s power to conduct summary inquiry into the antecedents furnished by candidates was independent of the commission’s directives.

Nagappa issue rocks Houses

BANGALORE (PTI): Pandemonium on the Nagappa issue prevailed in both Houses of the Karnataka legislature on Tuesday, as 12 BJP members were evicted from the Council and Assembly proceedings were stalled, forcing its adjournment for the day.

Insisting on the resignation of chief minister S.M. Krishna and a CBI probe into the killing of Janata Dal (U) leader H. Nagappa in Veerappan’s custody, slogan-shouting BJP members blocked discussions on his death in both Houses.

Opposition BJP leader Jagadish Shettar led the agitated party members in the Assembly and his counterpart D.H. Shankarmurthy, in the Council, charging the government of “failure” in handling the hostage crisis. Wearing black stoles, the BJP members also chanted slogans, demanding the resignation of home minister Mallikarjun Kharge and minister for agro processing Raju Gowda, holding them and the chief minister “responsible” for Nagappa’s killing. After repeated pleas by chairman B.L. Shankar to the BJP members to maintain order went unheeded, he ordered their suspension for a day and their eviction from the house.

In the Assembly, the BJP members forced a 90-minute long adjournment, creating a ruckus.

Bhunesh Kumar, a student of M.B. College, set himself afire in the campus on Monday. He was flown to Bareilly’s mission hospital. DIG Kumaon P.K. Joshi said that Kumar was being shifted to New Delhi for treatment. A bandh has been called on Tuesday in Haldwani by students organisations.

HC judges’ transfer

New Delhi (PTI): Justice Pradipta Ray of Orissa High Court, Justice N. Surajamani Singh of Calcutta High Court and Justice S.R. Nayak of Andhra Pradesh High Court have been transferred. Justice Ray has been transferred to Calcutta High Court and Justice Singh will be the judge of Sikkim High Court, an official release said. Justice Nayak has been transferred to Karnataka High Court.

Raid on train

B>lNEW DELHI (PTI): The CBI and income-tax officials conducted a raid on a moving train and recovered Rs 52 lakh of unaccounted cash from a senior divisional engineer of Southern Railway who was on the train. Acting on a tip-off, a joint CBI and income-tax team boarded the Bangalore-Jaipur Express and raided the official’s compartment and found Rs 52 lakh stashed in his suitcases, allegedly received as bribe.

Lecturer selection

B>lPATNA (PTI): The vigilance department has constituted a special team to probe alleged irregularities in the panel recommended by Bihar State Service Commission for appointment of lecturers. The probe was ordered following the directive of Governor and Chancellor V.C. Pande to the chief minister on complaints of irregularities in selection of around 1,100 candidates for lecturership in various universities in Bihar.

Mallikarjun dies

Hyderabad (PTI): Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister M. Mallikarjun died on Tuesday following a heart attack. He was 63. Mallikarjun, who had represented Mahabubnagar parliamentary constituency, was minister in the Cabinets of Indira Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao.

B>FOOtnote: Jai Pal Mittal of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre will receive the Humboldt Research Award, instituted by the Alexander Von Humbodlt Foundation of Germany. Mittal has been selected for his contributions in research and teaching.Bengal cricket captain Rohan Gavaskar with the children of Nirmala Sishu Bhavan in Calcutta on Christmas eve. He distributed a giant cake to the children. Picture by Amit Datta